Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of our friends and family a Very Merry Christmas!

Oh Christmas tree... Oh Christmas tree...

So this years Christmas tree almost did not make it home. We went to a local Christmas tree stand, picked out he perfect tree, paid $30.00, had the guy tie it to the top of the car and off we went. Only one problem... we noticed the guy used a very thin cotton string to tie the tree to the top of the car. O.k. we thought, it must work, he does this all day long. A couple of stops later and half way home we heard a noise that we knew was not good. We pulled over along side the road to take a look at the damage and well yes, you guessed it.... the thin cotton string had broken leaving the tree hanging half way off the car. After pulling the tree back into position and attempting to mend the thin cotton string we were on the road again. It was not long before the string just gave out and the tree was sliding off the car once again. So there we sat along side the road waiting for the WIZARD to come a rescue us. After waiting about 15 minutes the WIZARD arrived with bungee cords in tow and secured the tree so we could all get home safely. After arriving home and locating the tree stand we proceed to put the tree up.... ha! After many attempts to get the tree straight in the stand we finally decided that we needed the WIZARDS help once again. While waiting for him to come and take a look to see why the tree will not stand straight, the tree fell over. Are we just not meant to have a tree this year? After a careful examination of the tree he determined that a small piece of wood should be wedged in between the tree and the stand to keep it from falling over. After a couple of trips back and forth to the shop to get the exact size of wood, ta~da! the tree was up and it is still standing! Amazing! Thanks WIZARD!!!

Give Away Maddness featuring Nicey Jane and Izzy and Ivy

My friend Ari at BUTTERCUPPITY is having a giveaway, she makes the most adorable handbags and accessories, oh and the cutest little girls dresses!!! You just have to visit her blog to see for yourself!

Davenport Festival of Trees

The other night we went to the Festival of Trees at the Davenport Hotel, it was amazing as usual. We tried our luck at winnnig a tree as we always do, and once again no luck. Some day we will win, I can feel it! We decided that sicne we do not cook the traditional meal on Christmas anymore that this year we would make reservations for Christmas Dinner at the Hotel. I know no turkey at our house right! Well who want's to be in the kitchen all day anyway.

Jack the elf

Several years ago an elf named Jack began to visit our home every year around Thanksgiving. This elf is a kind elf who leaves little gifts for a certain little girl who's behavior and charm are exceedingly good.If he sees that she is behaving properly then he will leave her something sparkly, which all girls love! Fluffy socks, a candy cane or nail polish. She must have been exceptionally well behaved last year because he left her a Wii! This certain little girl cannot see or hear Jack,only mom's and grandma's can see him and talk to him. Jack keeps a close eye on her to see if she is behaving well and obeying her parents. He is Santa's secret agent and will pop in and out checking up on this little girl to report his findings back to the Big guy. He always knows when to show up and stands as a reminder to this little girl that she had better behave or else she will end up on the naughty list and coal in her stocking. Even though she is not so little anymore(almost 12) she still asks if I have seen Jack every year around Thanksgiving. I love that she still believes... I think that Jack might make a appearance today!

~Elves are commonly know for the help they give Santa Clause. They go by the names Santa's Little Helpers, Santa's Elves or Christmas Elves

~ Elves appeared in stories before St.Nicholas who is believed to be Santa Clause.
This therefor makes Elves older than Father Christmas.

~Santa Clause has often been referred to as a Jolly old Elf throughout history.

~In Scandinavia a jolly old Elf named Jultomten was said to have delivered gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats.

~Santa's Elves live at the Noth Pole helping him all year round to enable him to deliver gifts to children all around the world.

~In Iceland the Elves are known by the name of Yule lads and the people of Iceland have taken into account the fact that each day starting on the 12th of December an Elf(a different one each day) makes a visit each day until the arrival of 25th December.

~In many parts of France, the helpers are called, Père Fouettard.

~Elves are to make sure that all children are asleep before Santa delivers their presents.

Our Best Bites: Single Serving Pie in a Jar

Our Best Bites: Single Serving Pie in a Jar

The show is over...

Southern Charm

Bizi

Cast Away Clutter

Branches

Cute Katie wearing a dress made by Ari from Buttercuppity

Vintage Charm

Unexpected Necessities

Angel's Attic

Simply Adorable

Buttercuppity

Cheryl-Anne Millsap with her trash to treasure demonstration

Haylee Law, I love this girl!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from the show. We had a good time and really enjoyed all the wonderful vendors who really make the show what it is. Thank you to everyone who played a part in making this show a success! Now to start planning for next year...

Pillows for sale

A few pillows for the upcoming Vintage Finds and handmade Treasures Market.

Button Button who's got the button...

We had so much fun making these charming button rings. Most of the rings are made from vintage buttons that we have been collecting for awhile just waiting for the right project. They will be for sale at our upcoming show Vintage Finds and Handmade Treasures Market. Also on our etsy after the show if we have any left...

Oh! Deer!!!!

I love to go to thrift stores, yard sales, dumpster diving, driving around to see what people have put out for FREE, I just love me a good deal. When my kids were young they always went with me and they always found good stuff. It was like Christmas every week end for them. When my youngest daughter(from here on she will be known as Snickerdoodle, tee hee!) reached her teens, she began to fuss and WHINE and kick and scream about going to yard sales, but thrift stores were the absolute worst. Even though deep down inside young Snickerdoodle knew in her heart of hearts that treasures were to be found beyond the doors with the sign overhead that read Thrift Store, she would nearly always stay in the car...how boring! Now that Snickerdoodle is a young woman, she feels the pull of those wonderful little objects of desire that lurk in thrift stores. YES! I say, it has finally happened! My baby girl walked into a thrift store all by herself. Oh, Snickerdoodle, Mom's so proud of you. But wait...what's that you say? You bought WHAT! Okay, I know how it is, sometimes those odd little things just call out to you. It's like a child you didn't know you had but just now found her and HAVE to take her home.




Well, I guess that's what it was like for Snickerdoodle when she saw this deer head. I don't understand it, but I guess since she got her foot in the door it's okay. It is actually an Italian wine decanter. We looked it up on Ebay and found some similar ones, kind of pricey little things. Keep it up Snickerdoodle....you never know what you're going to find!

Cookies anyone?

SNICKERDOODLES

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 c shortening
1 1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 c flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Mix thoroughly butter, shortening, sugar and the eggs.

Blend in flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt.

Shape dough by rounded teaspoonfuls into balls. Mix sugar and cinnamon; roll balls in mixture.

Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from baking sheet. Makes about 6 dozen cookies. Heat oven to 400.

Adorable vintage pattern book

Last weekend we went to the Two Women Art and Antique show just outside of Spokane. I forgot my camera, so no pictures sorry, but we had to share the vintage pattern book we found there. This adorable McCalls pattern book is from 1944 and the pictures are absolutely charming!